Ian McPhedran (born 1957) is an Australian author and retired journalist. Having begun his journalism career at ''

The Canberra Times ''The Canberra Times'' is a daily newspaper in Canberra, Australia, which is published by Australian Community Media. It was founded in 1926, and has changed ownership and format several times. History ''The Canberra Times'' was launched in ...

'', from 1998 he worked as a defence writer for the News Corp Australia mastheads, including the '' Herald Sun'', ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'' and ''

Northern Territory News The ''Northern Territory News'' (also known and branded as the ''NT News'') is a morning tabloid newspaper based in Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia. Owned by News Corp Australia, it is published every week from Monday to Saturday. It prima ...

'', before announcing his retirement in January 2016.

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News ...

has published eight books by McPhedran, who won a Walkley Award in 1999.

Career

Prior to 1998, McPhedran was foreign affairs and defence writer for ''

''. Between 1998 and 2016 he worked as a defence writer News Corp Australia, writing for publications including the '' Herald Sun'', ''

'' and ''

'', before announcing his retirement in January 2016. At the beginning of the

Iraq War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق ( Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict and the War on terror , image ...

in 2003, McPhedran reported on the war from Baghdad, staying at the Meridien Palestine Hotel. McPhedran was expelled from the country by the Iraqi Government soon after ABC photojournalist Paul Moran was killed by a suicide car bomber in northeastern Iraq on 23 October 2003. McPhedran reported that Iraqi officials had accused him of not following regulations when he left his hotel to visit the Information Ministry building without a minder. McPhedran's first book, ''The Amazing SAS'', was published by HarperCollins in 2005.

Michelle Grattan Michelle Grattan (born 30 June 1944) is an Australian journalist who was the first woman to become editor of an Australian metropolitan daily newspaper. Specialising in political journalism, she has written for and edited many significant Austr ...

's review in ''The Age'' criticised McPhedran for offering the 'official account' of an incident in Afghanistan in which innocent people died after being mistaken for insurgents. She suggested that further discussion and analysis was needed of the incident, but overall she praised McPhedran's remarkable access. In 2009 McPhedran was invited by the Australian Defence Force to take part in an "embedding trial". McPhedran suggested the ADF's model should rather be called 'media hosting' and he was sometimes frustrated by a lack of access and time wasting during the trial.

Family and personal life

McPhedran, the oldest son born to his Anglo-Burmese refugee father, Colin McPhedran, and Australian mother, was raised in

Bowral Bowral () is the largest town in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia, about ninety minutes southwest of Sydney. It is the main business and entertainment precinct of the Wingecarribee Shire and Highlands. Bowral once served ...

, in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales. McPhedran is married to journalist Verona Burgess. They live in Balmain, Sydney. ''White Butterflies,'' a book written by Ian McPhedran's father Colin with editing assistance from Verona Burgess, tells the story of Colin's journey on foot from Burma to India during World War II to escape the Japanese invasion of Burma. Colin, then 11 years old, embarked on the journey with his mother and two siblings but only he survived.

Awards

*1993 award for the news reporting section in the United Nations Association Media Peace Awards *1999

Walkley Award The annual Walkley Awards are presented in Australia to recognise and reward excellence in journalism. They cover all media including print, television, documentary, radio, photographic and online media. The Gold Walkley is the highest prize and ...

for best news reporting *2015 Aviation Online Contribution of the Year

Works

* * * * * * *''The Mighty Krait: The little boat that pulled off Australia's most daring commando raid of WWII.'' HarperCollins. 2018. . *''Where Soldiers Lie: The Quest to Find Australia's Missing War Dead.'' HarperCollins''.'' 2019. .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McPhedran, Ian Living people 1957 births Walkley Award winners The Canberra Times people Australian maritime historians